


Tell me.

by LuciustheDragon



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: I guess??????? idk how better describe, I'm so sorry reiji is such a dumbass, M/M, Pre-Relationship, it's pretty lighthearted, lucius tries to be funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 06:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17678378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciustheDragon/pseuds/LuciustheDragon
Summary: All of Reiji's past experiences with admirers have failed to prepare him for handling Masato's very apparent attraction.





	Tell me.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAA HUGE THANKS TO IB (Twitter: https://twitter.com/hqmmx) FOR HER LOVELY ART FOR THIS FIC!! It has me so shook you have no idea... Here's her post: https://twitter.com/hqmmx/status/1093063753111748610?s=21
> 
> aaand yeah also thank you so much Maia, the main organiser for the flashbang, for all of your hard work!! It definitely paid off.
> 
> enjoy this mess hfasflsafkasfjlasf

Reiji would like to think that he is quite good at handling people. He knows that he has a natural talent for saying the right things to the right people. Diffusing uncomfortable situations, breaking up conflicts, calming down over-excited fans… these all fall within his skillset. Despite appearances, however, he is completely inexperienced on the romance front. Even so, he has found a method for gently deflecting and rejecting advances from all manner of people. They confess, he makes some sort of excuse, then he apologises and thanks them. Right now, however, Reiji finds himself facing a very awkward situation, also of the romantic sort. It involves one of Ranmaru’s juniors, of all people, which is particularly baffling. Reiji does not know what he did to make the former Hijirikawa heir, of all people, fall for him.

 

Even after Starish’s Saotome Academy days, Quartet Night has remained in close touch, still having joint practises at times for dramas and such. One such practise is when Reiji starts to notice Masato’s peculiar sort of attraction. It is as if a switch had flipped in him, an emotional switch. Masato is always respectful to the people around him, if somewhat withdrawn, yet the way he is now is to the complete contrary. Well, he is still respectful, of course, but he comes to Reiji to work on scripts, even insists on him reading lines aloud. Reiji watches the way he listens during chance glances at his face, and what he sees astonishes him. A pale pink blush adorns his cheeks and has even spread to his ears. He does not look at all embarrassed, just intensely focused and… adoring? It is rather uncanny to see this expression from Masato of all people. He catches Ren and even Ranmaru looking amused at this development. In fact,  _ everyone _ , at some point, has taken at least a few moments to bear witness. It’s enough to make even Reiji a bit self conscious, but Masato remains unaffected.

 

“Kotobuki-senpai. Pardon the interruption, but you skipped the previous two lines.” Masato comes over next to Reiji and glides a finger over the page. Reiji half-listens, half-observes Masato, which is a big mistake, because now he is far too aware of how close Masato really is to him. He’s close enough that Reiji can see that Masato’s beauty mark is not actually circular, and he looks up, and now he wonders what Masato does to maintain such wonderful eyelashes—

 

“Kotobuki-senpai? Are you quite alright? A rest would be helpful right about now, I think.”

 

“Oh, sorry, sorry! I must be getting a bit tired. I’ll keep going, I’m fine, Hijirin!”

“No, I insist. I don’t want you overdoing it, especially when you are indulging my request.” Reiji exaggerates a pout. He thinks that will annoy him, but to his astonishment, Masato huffs out the smallest of laughs into his fist. “You will be happier for it, you cannot sway me with that look. There is a vending machine nearby with a decent selection of beverages, if that suits your fancy.” Reiji’s pout fades to an amused grin as Masato practically drags Reiji out of the practise room. In this single section of practise, Reiji has already seen a lot more of who Masato is than from every previous reaction combined. Now, with nobody else around, Reiji realises that he has a fantastic opportunity to figure out what exactly is going on.

 

Reiji sits on a bench near the vending machine, occupied by his thoughts. He thanks Masato on autopilot for the drink and sips at it. He holds the cold aluminum can on a thigh as he speaks. “Tell me, Hijirin… Why me?”

 

Masato sits next to him so that they can be face to face. “What do you mean by that?”

 

“I mean, Ran-Ran is probably a more obvious choice.” He fiddles with the pull tab of his drink, turning his face away from Masato. He reads the label as a tacit excuse for looking away. Iced cold brew coffee. Unsweetened, no cream. The logo for his preferred brand. He’s not sure what to make of it, and he looks back up to Masato. “You know him better. I just don’t really know what I am providing for you.”

 

“Ah, you mean about today.” He laces his fingers together in his lap. “You are extremely expressive. Of course, Kurosaki-senpai is as well, but this is different. Your delivery… somehow, you can convincingly say your lines one way, while your eyes say something different. Hm, I’m not sure of whether I am expressing this adequately. If I close my eyes or otherwise cannot see you, your delivery changes. Rather, I cannot fully receive the delivery, so I find myself compelled to fully engage myself when it comes to you, Kotobuki-senpai.” Reiji is fascinated as Masato speaks. His cheeks, which had just lost their early blush, are now back to their previous state. His gaze is so steady that it’s almost too much to bear. Masato has already mastered what he admires in Reiji without even realising. His words are indicative of admiration in the professional sense, but, with a sinking feeling, Reiji can see too clearly that Masato has been saying so much more than that.

 

“I didn’t know you thought this highly of me. I’m touched, Hijirin.” He scoots over, closing the gap between them. A shameful part of him gets a thrill out of the way Masato’s face turns even redder. He opens his mouth to say something, make some excuse about wanting to be closer to his cute kouhai, but shuts it. He wants to keep the opportunity open for Masato to say something on a limb. As a result, they just look at each other. Reiji is feeling increasingly awkward.

 

Masato, in contrast, looks somewhat amused. “Is there something you needed to tell me, Kotobuki-senpai?”  _ No, you are supposed to have something to tell me!  _ Of course, Reiji can say no such thing, because then Reiji will have to explain what Masato would tell him. That would be horrendously awkward, and Reiji does not do well with horrendously awkward. It is already awkward enough that Masato clearly likes him for some reason, and the longer this goes on, the more awkward it will be. With that in mind, Reiji has the beginning of a plan forming. He will do everything in his power to make Masato come clean about his feelings so that Reiji can reject him while they both maintain their dignity!

 

Now, however, Masato is the one waiting for Reiji’s response, which has taken far too long to come out.

 

“Yep! I wanna know how much that coffee cost, so that I can repay you.”

 

“I refuse.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I refuse. It’s my treat.” Masato stands up and starts to walk back towards the practise room. “We’ve been out long enough. Back to practise we go.”

 

“Hey!” They finish the practise without a hitch, and Reiji hopes that his plan will work just as smoothly.

 

*^*^*^*^*

 

Even after a month, Reiji’s plan is, in the gentlest of terms, not going very well, which is why he is sitting on Ranmaru’s couch in his apartment and complaining. At first, he really thought he had this one in the bag: set up a situation where they are alone and be approachable, then it would just happen. But no. Instead of doing what Reiji wants, Masato ends up dismantling his plans. Reiji has worked very hard to clear out small time slots in his schedule for lunch and dinner to this end, but alas, Reiji has made no progress. It didn’t help that Reiji would forget about what his plan was until after the meal was finished because he was actually enjoying himself…

 

“...Hijirin even pays for everything, somehow! I don’t know how he does it. And sometimes, we kinda just look at each other across the table without saying anything, and I’d think, ‘oh, perfect! He’s totally gonna say it!’ and then he just doesn’t say anything! This keeps happening, even when we do other things, like when he told me to come to this nice park to walk around in one evening. It was really nice out and all, but then I ask him if he has anything to tell me, and he just tells me that the sunset is beautiful. He wasn’t even looking at the sunset when he told me the sunset was beautiful, Ran-Ran! And then—and I didn’t even realise I did this until after I got home—when I agreed with him, I wasn’t even looking at the sunset either, and then—”

 

“Oh my god. Reiji, you are so fucking stupid.”

 

“Hey! I’m trusting you, Ran-Ran! You wound me.”

 

Ranmaru narrows his eyes.

 

“Alright, maybe I am being stupid.”   
  


“You say that, but I really,  _ really _ don’t think you know just how stupid you are. Like, sometimes you do stupid shit but you’re not being stupid while doing it. Right now, you are actually being stupid.” 

 

“Okay, okay, so I’m being stupid, but what do I do about it?”

 

“Well, grow some balls and just say what you gotta say. You’re the one making this way more awkward than it needed to be. As it is right now, you’re just being a dick and leading him on.”

 

Reiji hates to admit it, but Ranmaru is right. He’s been putting this off because of his selfishness. This whole debacle with Masato should have been resolved during that break from practise a month ago.

 

“Yeah. You’re right, Ran-Ran. I should have just said something from the beginning. I’m gonna do it right now, it’s what he deserves! Thanks, Ran-Ran!” Reiji shoots up from the couch with newfound determination.

“Wait, do you even know what the hell you’re gonna say to him?”

 

Ranmaru’s words have no audience, for Reiji already is out the door. He sighs, shaking his head. He could really use a catnap right about now.

 

*^*^*^*^*

 

Reiji knocks on the door to Masato’s apartment. It is only after he knocks that he realises that he doesn’t even know if Masato is home and that even if Masato  _ is _ home, Reiji is here uninvited. He also didn’t bother to wait for the elevator and ran several flights of stairs, so he is very sweaty, and sweaty has never been a good look on Reiji. He shouldn’t even care that he doesn’t look good. He shouldn’t, but he does. With this comes the related realisation that actually, Reiji wants to look somewhat presentable for him for more than just professional reasons. He likes it when Masato tells him that he looks good. He likes being able to coax a smile or a laugh out of Masato. Not for the usual reason, which is to be assured that Reiji still, in fact, can make people smile, but because he wants to see Masato’s smile and hear Masato’s laughter. He reaches many more similar realisations on Masato’s doorstep, all of which make him feel extraordinarily stupid. When was it that Reiji no longer wanted to reject Masato’s feelings?

 

The door opens. Masato looks very annoyed until he sees that it is Reiji at the door. His brow unfurrows, scowl relaxing into the smile Reiji is accustomed to seeing nowadays.

 

“Oh. It’s you.” No annoyance colours his voice, just wonder and affection. Reiji does not want to lose this. “For you to come here so suddenly… is something the matter?”

 

Reiji honestly doesn’t know what to say. His original purpose became completely dismantled. Masato’s next words, however, make it very clear. 

 

“Tell me.”


End file.
